From animal nutrition to diagnostics, from vaccines to therapeutics, from industrial enzymes to research use only products, proteins underpin some of the world’s largest industries. However, the demand for these proteins is growing faster than production systems can keep up with today.
At Loopworm, we’re changing the game with one tiny organism that’s been making proteins for millennia: the silkworm. We leverage nature’s oldest domesticated biofactory to produce high-volume proteins for animal nutrition and high-value recombinant proteins for life sciences, more efficiently, more affordably, and at scale.
Proteins are the molecular infrastructure of modern life. But the global system that produces those proteins, across both nutrition and life sciences, is under severe and compounding strain.
70% of global fishmeal comes from wild-caught pelagic fish.
In Q1 2024, El Niño triggered a 27% drop in fishmeal production and a 117% price spike.
Between 2001–2015, soy replaced 8.2 million hectares of forests globally.
75% of all soy is destined to become livestock feed.
Recombinant proteins, for diagnostics, vaccines and enzymes, are produced using expensive mammalian cell systems or stainless-steel bioreactors that are costly, energy intensive and hard to scale.
The COVID-19 pandemic made the fragility of global biologics supply chains unmistakably clear. The ability to discover, manufacture, and scale biologics is now a strategic national priority.
Silkworms convert up to 98% of their output into pure protein, i.e. silk. Approximately 50% of their total body mass is protein. Silkworms are also BSL-1 classified, non-pathogenic, and safe to handle at scale.
With 4,000+ years of domestication, silkworms come with infrastructure no other insect has. In India alone, sericulture supports 7 million+ livelihoods across 22 states, 50,000+ villages and a distributed supply network that is already operational.
Silkworm-derived proteins contain 18 necessary amino acids, high concentrations of Lysine, Methionine, Arginine, and Threonine alongside phospholipid-bound Omega-3 fatty acids, natural cholesterol, and β-Sitosterols. This helps in growth, immunity, cellular function, and efficient nutrient absorption in animals.
A monophagus diet ensures consistent nutritional output and stable batch quality. Unlike insects fed on organic waste streams or variable-quality agricultural rejects, silkworms have no contamination risk and more reliable end-product specifications.
COVID-19 made bio-manufacturing a strategic global priority. In India, strong policy support from the Department of Biotechnology, BioE3 policy, the Central Silk Board and Ministry of Textiles and 40+ universities offering dedicated sericulture programs signals an ecosystem that is already mature for the next stage of innovation.
One organism. Unlimited potential. From high-volume commodity proteins to high-value specialty molecules — at global scale.
Our silkworm biomanufacturing facility is unparalleled in scale.
Production capacity and rapidly scaling.
We deliver what we commit to: every time, without exception.
Constantly breaking new boundaries in what insect biotech can do.
We transform ourselves continuously to make better products and serve customers better.
Leveraging India’s climatic advantage, talent ecosystem and sericulture legacy to produce high quality insect proteins for the world.
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